Page 16 of Hunted (Desert Island Duet #2)

Chapter eleven

Weston

G rabbing the first aid kit from Slade, I set it on the edge of the chopper and open it. It doesn’t have a lot, but some clean gauze will help for now. I grab what I need as Bower and Reece hold her between them.

I toss King the cleaning wipes as I give out instructions. “King, wipe away as much blood from the area as you can, then I’ll bandage it. We’ll do the front first, then the back. Ready?”

Everyone nods as we get in place. “Okay, Reece, move your hand,” I instruct, and when he does, my heart thumps loudly in my chest. There’s so much blood, I can’t even tell where the injury is.

Luckily, he seems to know, as he uses the small bit of shirt that was still its original color to wipe the surrounding area.

King jumps in and starts helping, and when I see where the blood is pumping out of, I slap the gauze on it and thank God she’s unconscious for this. I use some tape to stick it down, then we turn her body to the side and repeat the same on the back .

She’s lost a lot of blood, and we still have to get her to the hospital. “How far away is it to Madagascar?” I ask, wrapping a bandage tightly around her waist to help hold pressure on both wounds.

“Sixty minutes,” Reece says with a pinched face. He turns to Slade. “Every minute you can shave off of that, I’ll give you a thousand dollars.”

“Deal!” Slade says, jumping into the pilot's seat. “I suggest you guys get in and buckle up. The sooner we take off, the sooner we get there.”

We climb in and start to argue where to place Darla. In the end, I hold her in my lap, wrapping the seatbelt around both of us as the others take seats where they can see her, with Arnold in the passenger seat.

The sound of the chopper blades starting makes my pulse rise for a different reason.

We’re finally going home.

After months of being stuck on this island, we’re getting out of here. Glancing down at the unconscious woman I love in my lap, I can’t help but wonder, but at what cost?

Looking out the side of the chopper to the beach below, I see the dead mercenary’s body.

I can’t believe he’d been on the island hiding for the past few days.

I believe the only reason he didn’t try to kill us sooner was his injured arm.

It looked pretty bad. Whether he got shot during their initial attack, or got hit with debris from the exploding helicopters, we’ll never know.

“Reece,” I call loudly, to be heard over the roaring chopper blades as we rise into the air.

When he looks up at me, I gesture to the beach with my head.

“What about the body?” He glances out the side with a pinched expression before he turns around and says something to Slade.

I can’t hear him, but when he turns around, he gives me a nod .

“Slade’s in charge of the Alpha team that I had searching for you guys. He’ll come back and take care of it.”

I release a deep breath. As unlikely as it was for anybody else to find this island in the past, when we get home, it will be impossible to keep it a secret, what with these three being famous in the business world.

I wouldn’t be surprised if people come out here to see it for themselves, out of curiosity or for news coverage.

Especially when they find out about Darla.

I hold her a little tighter as I watch her face.

She seems peaceful, like she’s just sleeping.

I try to convince myself that’s what’s happening, and she hasn’t passed out from blood loss.

If I wasn’t holding my finger over her pulse, making sure her heart was still pumping, I might’ve lost my shit by now.

My eyes trail down to her necklace, remembering how happy she was when I gave it to her. I hope I can see her smile like that again soon.

“West?” King says from beside me.

“What?”

“You might want to get rid of that.” He gestures to where the mercenary’s pistol is sticking out the side of my pants.

My first instinct is to keep it; we need a weapon to keep ourselves safe.

But he’s right, we’re landing in a foreign country and don’t want to risk them finding me with what’s likely an unregistered gun.

Besides, for all I know, it’s connected to other murders.

It’s also the gun that caused Darla’s current injury.

Shifting Darla slightly, I grab the pistol and toss it out the side of the chopper, watching it drop out of sight into the ocean below. I sit back, readjusting Darla so I can feel her pulse again as we all wait anxiously to land .

I close my eyes, and the past hour plays on repeat in my head. I should have grabbed her quicker, not let her run off like that. How is she so fast? I should have been able to catch up to her, but she runs like the fucking Flash.

I suppose she’s been conditioning to do that for years, although I wonder why she would ever have to run that fast. Was it from the wild boars?

She said that the big one she killed the day we met had a grudge against her.

How fast could they run, and wouldn’t she just jump in a tree to get away from him?

I think about her swinging on the vines and scampering through the trees. That’s probably how she built up her endurance and speed. Being on the ground would be so easy for her to move compared to the trees.

My mind shifts back to the scene I saw at the beach today. I saw her tackle Reece to the ground as the mercenary shot at them. I swear my heart stopped at that moment. Luckily, he was so distracted by the two of them that he didn’t see me coming.

I managed to get the jump on him, and with the other two right behind me, it was easy enough to pull the pistol from his hand and fire it into his forehead.

I didn’t want to take any chances in him surviving or there not being another bullet to finish the job.

He stopped moving instantly, and I stared down at his body for a full thirty seconds, wanting confirmation that he was truly dead.

When I checked for a pulse and found none, I turned to find the others already hovering over Reece and Darla.

When I saw the blood covering her side, I knew my worst fears had been confirmed. My girl had been shot.

The sound of the radio cuts in, distracting me. I listen to Slade talk to someone, explaining the need for a surgical team at the ready. I was grateful he was thinking ahead for us. The faster we can get Darla to a hospital, the better. Hopefully, they have a decent doctor where we’re going.

“Look!” Bower says, pointing out in front. I lean to the side so I can see around Reece, and there, in the distance, I see what he’s pointing to.

Land.

My skin starts to buzz with nerves, realizing we’re finally about to go back into civilization. Madagascar might not be the same as home, and it’s technically an island, but there are people there, food, supplies… doctors.

We all watch in silence as it gets bigger and bigger until we can no longer see any ocean on either side of it. I practically hold my breath as Slade starts to descend.

“We’re landing right on top of the hospital!” Bower yells, leaning to look out the side as we slow down.

The first thing I notice is a team of people in scrubs and a stretcher, watching us land. We’re here . And she’s still alive. I close my eyes, so I can concentrate on her pulse. It’s still strong. There’s still hope.

As soon as we touch down, the sound of the spinning blades slows down and I unhook my seatbelt as the team of nurses runs towards us.

Bower jumps out first and offers to take her from me.

I try to refuse but realize without letting her go, I’d have to hop out, jarring her.

And the last thing I want to do is cause her any pain.

So reluctantly, I pass her to him and jump out as he gently lays her on the stretcher. I try to move to her side, but the nurses surround her, quickly inspecting my bandages before they start pushing her towards the door .

I have to jog to keep up, and I’m glad they’re moving so quickly, but it makes me worry that they think she doesn’t have much time left.

When we get through the door, there’s an elevator waiting, which they quickly move her into. It's a tight squeeze with so many people and when I realize there’s barely room for one more, I push in, wanting to be the one with her.

As the elevator doors start to shut, Reece, Bower, and King all watch us with worry and concern written all over their faces.

“I got her,” I tell them, hoping they can trust me with this. Reece gives me a small nod right before the doors shut.

It doesn’t take long for us to reach our floor, and the team is just as quick moving her along the hall. When we reach a set of double doors, she is passed to another team as they start speaking to each other faster than I can understand.

As I try to follow her in, a nurse places her hand on my chest to stop me. “Sorry, sir, you can’t go in there. That team has all been sterilized, so there’s a much lower risk of infection. You’ll contaminate it and endanger her.”

Her last two words have me stepping back as I look through the window into what must be a surgical suite.

“Let me escort you to the waiting room where your friends will be taken. You can’t stand here.” I nod, knowing there’s nothing more that I can do now.

She shows me a room at the end of the hall, through a set of double doors. The others aren’t here yet and I don’t feel like I can sit still, so I ask where the washrooms are .

When I get inside, I move to the sink and stare at my reflection in the mirror for the first time in months. I barely recognize myself; my hair and beard haven’t been this long in years. I have blood and dirt all over me.